City leaders brainstorm on Riverside

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Planners held another brainstorming session Thursday night on the future of Buffalo's re-emerging waterfront.

City planners met with the community to look at how to spruce up Riverside during a busy Thursday for downtown Buffalo. A Bisons baseball game was going on, Thursdays at the Harbor concert series was rocking Canalside, and a special event called "The Great Race" was happening, where vintage cars try to come closest to the time it took a test car to get to Buffalo.

Pierce-Arrow Museum's Executive Director of Buffalo Transportation James Sandoro said, "At the end of the day, whatever that time is they log that. Now all of those people are trying to strive for that time. They don't know what it is, but they are trying to strive for perfect time per day."

Around 70 cars made it to Buffalo.

Ontario resident Duncan Tilly said, "It was a long day. We were held up by a couple accidents on the highway."

Depew resident Ron Rizzi added, "Pretty good to see old cars like that, that actually work."

And Thursdays at the Harbor continue to please crowds.

Elizabeth Lamont said, "This is my first time and there's a lot of people. I love being by the water and they have a really cool band."

And changes may be expanding past downtown as city planners look at how to revitalize Riverside.

City Planning Director Brendan Mehaffy said, "We can really embrace the strengths that we have in Buffalo State College to the south, there's the Scajaquada Corridor Creek itself and growing that as more recreational and commercial. And also you can go into the north as well as the option of intensifying the industrial in these neighborhoods."

Residents aren't hoping for the same excitement as downtown - just some nice improvements to the area.

"I was baptized here in Riverside. I've lived here for most of my life or a good portion of my life and want things to be decent and nice and quiet," said Riverside resident Jerry Serba.